On This Day in History, March 21: The Luck O’ The Irish

On This Day in History, March 21: The Luck O’ The Irish

We’ve all received those scam emails that inform us we’ve hit the jackpot in the Irish lotto. If only. But back in 1934, that actually happened! (Not through email, of course). A Brooklyn Daily Eagle front page story of March 21, 1934, featured two young lassies who were Irish Sweepstakes winners. The story is reprinted below.

“Two Brooklyn women of 22, employed as typists in Manhattan, received word from Dublin today that they had jointly won one of the bigger prizes of the Irish Sweepstakes, in which drawings were resumed this morning.

“They are the Misses Ruth C. Marshall of 1358 E. 32d St., and Eleanor Cabaret of 334 Rugby Rd. They are to share, half-and-half, in a prize of 7,018 pounds, or about $35,000.

“Miss Cabaret is an orphan and a very self-reliant young woman. Though dazed by the news of the award and the rush of photographers and reporters, she promised ‘We are going to continue to live our normal lives.’ And she commented in passing, ‘We couldn’t have got more publicity if we had shot somebody.’

“Miss Marshall is a graduate of James Madison High School and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H.E. Marshall, her father being a medical products company representative. She is engaged to be married.

“Their joint winnings were one of the ten prizes of that amount won in the race.”